By Kenny Chee

CHINESE LANGUAGE teachers need to embrace innovative ways of teaching young people the centuries- old language, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday.

They need to interest their students, through the use of drama, information technology or other activities that youths are passionate about, he said.

They should also focus on honing their students' ability to comprehend and speak the language, rather than on writing skills, which are more difficult to master, he added.

He had this message for them: 'This is the way you are going to go. Use IT, use drama, use every possible method to capture the interest of the children. It doesn't matter what level you teach.'

Otherwise, the students, faced with what they believe to be a boring subject, will lose interest and give up.

But Chinese is becoming increasingly important, with China's rise in economic might. Mr Lee said: 'Today, parents will know, if students already know Chinese, then they've got extra market value. They can go to China, operate there as an architect... (or in) any profession.'

Mr Lee was speaking at the official opening of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, an autonomous training school for Chinese language teachers.

The centre, set up by the Education Ministry and the National Institute of Education in February, has already trained more than 1,000 teachers.

Among other things, it is working with the Media Development Authority of Singapore to use information technology to teach Chinese, such as by developing teaching materials to teach on the go.

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